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$page->title="Freelancing";
$page->date="2012-09-19";

?>

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<p>As I exist on the web, I run across others who I identitfy with. In this example, <a href="http://jessicahische.is"
target="_blank">Jessica Hische</a>. We are both designers. Sadly, the similarity stops there.</p>

<p>I ran across her site from a link, from another link, from a twitter feed I follow. Yeah. Then I stopped to read
a few of her posts about freelancing, pricing in particular. My jaw dropped a few times. This is not to say that she
is wrong with her pricing. I left my bottom teeth simply for the fact that my self-value as a designer is far
out of her view of normal. But I think that there are some great reasons for that.</p>

<p>I have chosen to work in the non-profit realm and specifically with ministries. I want the God element in my work.
This is for no other reason than my faith. So it goes without explanation that the work that I do has a lower
monitary value and this can be attributed to my willingness to give myself for the God element.</p>

<p>What truly stuck me about Jessica was not her design—though very good—but her marketing. Her site had wholly
convinced me that she was worth every penny of her examples. Her value attributed to her work—being at the level
that it is—instantly assigned rank to her. How can this be anything but marketing?</p>

<p>Finally, to my point. I freelance. It's one day a week and with people I've worked with in the past (non-profits).
I tell myself that I am doing it to “pad my budget” but to be honest with myself, I don’t need it. If I was trying
to pad my budget, I’d build myself a site that convinced others of my worth as a designer and too complete a job
for $32,000. Then with one project, I could replace over half of my income and negate the felt need to freelance
fifty-two other days a year.</p>

<p>The quesiton I am left with after being on Jessica’s site for less than an hour is, “am I doing it wrong?”</p>

